The present invention is based on a multipole electrical connector.
A connector is described in German Published Patent Application No. 295 08 805.
The connector includes a contact set having a plurality of contact elements. Each of the contact elements has a contact section and a connecting section.
The connecting sections of the contact elements are flat, web-type bars which are produced from a metal sheet of uniform thickness by a stamping process, forming a stamped grid. At first the connecting sections are temporarily interconnected by transverse webs, which are later replaced by a plastic extrusion coat and then removed, so that a one-piece unit, the stamped grid, is formed.
The end of each connecting section is folded over, forming a joining region for a contact section. Placed in each joining region is a cutout into which the assigned contact section is inserted in a direction perpendicular to the connecting section and integrally joined.
This manner of producing the contact elements is undesirably costly from a standpoint of production engineering, and the contact elements take up a large space, so that use under restricted space conditions is rendered difficult or prevented.
On the other hand, the multipole electrical connector of the present invention has the advantage that the previously mentioned shortcomings are avoided to a satisfactory degree.
To that end, both the contact sections and the connection sections of the contact elements are produced in one operation from a metal strip, forming a single-layer stamped grid, thus simplifying the production. In addition, the contact sections are arranged in one plane with the connecting sections, resulting in flat contact elements which are also usable under restricted space conditions.